Class meets MWF 9:00-9:50 AM in Doherty Hall A301D; M 1:00-1:50 PM in Wean Hall 7316
Professor Michael Widom, Office 6305 Wean Hall
e-mail widom@cmu.edu, Phone: 412-268-7645
Office hours: Any time my door is open, or by appointment
Course web site http://euler.phys.cmu.edu/widom/teaching/33-765
Grader: Patrick Shaw
Statistical mechanics seeks to explain emergent macroscopic phenomena on the basis of microscopic physical laws. Owing to the intrinsically chaotic behavior predicted by these laws, exacerbated by random thermal or quantum mechanical influences, we cannot hope to solve the underlying equations exactly. Rather, we exploit the self-averaging that occurs when large numbers of particles interact in order to derive new laws that govern macroscopically relevant subsets of the possible degrees of freedom. Statistical mechanical calculations often predict the values of thermodynamic variables such as energy, entropy, heat capacity, etc. Hence the course will start with thermodynamics, taking the ideal gas as a model. Other topics to be covered include classical non-ideal gases, harmonic oscillators, and quantum systems such as blackbody radiation, harmonic solids, ideal Bose and Fermi gases, and metals and insulators. We will conclude with an introduction to the Ising model.
A course web site at http://euler.phys.cmu.edu/widom/teaching/33-765 contains this syllabus plus links to day-by-day lecture coverage and weekly homework assignments.
Books:
1. Swendsen, "An Introduction to Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics"
2. Kardar, "Statistical Physics of Particles"
3. McQuarrie, "Statistical Mechanics"
The course will follow the book by Swendsen, while the others are useful for alternative presentations of the material. Swendsen was intended as a two-semester undergraduate course; we will cover the entire book in one semester (approximately one chapter/lecture).
Grading: Letter grades will be based on weekly homework, a midterm exam TBA (in class), and a final exam TBA, in proportions of 25:25:50. Homework assignments are listed at http://euler.phys.cmu.edu/widom/teaching/33-765/hw.html. Students are encouraged to work together on homework assignments, but your final solution writeup must be done on your own.
Course Outline:
Note this outline is only approximate. Actual class coverage can be found
http://euler.phys.cmu.edu/widom/teaching/33-765/coverage.html.
Weeks 1Mathematical essentials of probability
Weeks 2-3 Ideal gas and entropy
Weeks 4-6 Thermodynamics
Weeks 7-9 Classical applications - nonideal gas; harmonic oscillator
Weeks 10-11 Quantum statistical mechanics
Weeks 12-13 Bose and Fermi gases - blackbody radiation; harmonic solid; semiconductors
Week 14 Ising model and phase transitions